USA Foresclosure Properties.

Hello, you can inspect foreclosure properties, we have done so with the ones we bought etc in Kansas in the last 6 months.

However..the politics we have found are pretty much if you represent yourself as an investment company you will not be able to purchase the property no matter how good your credit is etc. This is from personal and recent experience with Bank of America..who unfortunately handle 99% of foreclosures right now across the US. Its ridiculous but like I said..politics.  Basically what we do is buy the property in our own name and then quit claim deed it a few months later to the LLC. We use a CPA and have filed taxes etc with no problems.
Zillow is a good site to get information but have to agree they are sometimes inflated. I only buy local to where we live and have found them to be pretty accurate, but that can change across the US. When searching an area you are interested in, I would suggest going to that particular counties website and seeing what recent planning permits have been approved, also read the local newspaper to see what new projects/industries are opening up in the area etc. Most of the local newspapers across the US are accessible online for no charge.

Being here for the purchase and finding a good property manager is  very important.After all thats who you are trusting with your investment etc.
Hope this helps a little,

J.

Yes, foreclosures can be tricky.  When buying anything built from 2005 to present which is most of what our business consists of, be sure to ask about Defective Chinese Drywall.  Trust me, you don't want issues with that.  You can google the problem to see for yourself. 

Rental rates have stabilized in many areas and in some areas are rising.  My 2 cents about websites:  Zillow, Trulia, etc are mostly outdated and do not report information that is entirely accurate. 

There is a lot of international money coming into the states and historic trends and percentages say that now is a very favorable time to buy.  More value is added with the currency rates.  We are buying multi-family homes that are showing 12-17% Capitalization rates that are bought for $70k to $80k.  Cash flow aside, the duplexes will still achieve a Cap Rate of 9% if the homes are sold at $120,000.  That said, foreign investors will continue to buy all the way up to that pricepoint for their yield of 9%.    Again, now is the time to buy low.

Mike
http://www.MyRealtySource.com